1I I Prefer Height
I was on another secret courier’s mission to deliver documents to the 25th Division, G-2 in Chu Chi. As usual, I was picked up by helicopter outside our Tây Ninh East compound on the runway next to B-32 Special Forces Camp. This time my mode of transportation was different; instead of a Huey, they sent me a Loach (Hughes OH-6 Cayuse), shaped like an egg. It was a beautiful and fast helicopter, and the minute I climbed into it I knew that I was in for a helluva ride. As a wannabe helicopter pilot, I was in Hog Heaven. The pilot, a young warrant officer, asked me if I wanted to have some fun, and I ate it up. I knew what I was in for, as the Loach was like driving a Ferrari at Le Mans, incredibly fast and highly maneuverable. The Loach’s speed and small size made it a difficult target for the Viet Cong, so I felt safe flying in it. The minute we took off, I got an unbelievable adrenaline rush. We started our fun with the pilot going into a steep dive and then leveling out three feet above a winding river, we followed the river for several miles buzzing numerous sampans on our way towards Chu Chi. Next, we did a stupid maneuver by flying ten feet above the main street of a village, but our joyride came to a sudden halt when we spotted a cable just ahead of us, spanning the street. The pilot pulled up to avoid the cable, but it was too late; the last two feet of our skids snagged the cable and caused the helicopter to violently oscillate out of control. The pilot finally regained control, but only seconds before we would have hit a grove of rubber trees. I looked back at the trees and could see flying pieces of leaves our tail rotor had shredded. We looked at each other but said nothing for the rest of the flight. 

Another lucky day in sunny Vietnam.

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